Massive Palestinian flags adorn campuses throughout Spain as numerous students rally against Israel’s conflict in Gaza. This week, protests in Barcelona, Valencia, the Basque Country, and Madrid have disrupted classes.
Protests in solidarity with Palestine have spread across Europe, with university sit-ins occurring in countries like the Netherlands, France, the United Kingdom, Finland, Denmark, and Germany. These demonstrations echo those of their counterparts in the United States, who are facing aggressive police responses.
In Amsterdam, police arrested approximately 125 activists while dismantling a pro-Palestinian camp at the University of Amsterdam, citing the need to “restore order” after protests escalated. However, no injuries were reported. Video footage broadcast by national broadcaster NOS depicted the use of heavy machinery to dismantle barricades and tents.
In Spain, where there is a long history of support for the Palestinian cause, police have refrained from intervening in the protests. Maria Angeles Lopez, a 21-year-old psychology student at the University of Barcelona, emphasized the importance of showing solidarity and taking a stance against the situation in Gaza and Israel’s actions. She expressed hope that widespread student opposition could influence those in power to reconsider their policies.
In numerous Spanish universities where protests have erupted, over 2,000 lecturers have voiced their support for the demonstrations.
On Wednesday, scholars from the University of Malaga are anticipated to commence their demonstrations.
Hundreds of students gathered outside the philosophy faculty of the University of Valencia last week to start the protests, which called for an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, which has so far claimed the lives of about 35,000 Palestinians.Twenty-year-old Alba Ayoub, a law student at the University of Valencia, claimed that on October 7, students did not support Hamas’s attack on southern Israel. However, she stated that she saw it as a kind of defiance.
On October 7, the Gaza-governing group, Hamas, launched an unprecedented incursion that resulted in 1,139 deaths and hundreds of captures. These strikes signaled a dramatic intensification of the long-running conflict between Israel and Palestine and sparked Israel’s bloodiest and most recent war on Gaza.
Ayoub told Al Jazeera, “We are protesting in solidarity with other students in America and around the world.”
“We demand that Spain sever ties with Israel. Spain and Israel continue to purchase and sell weapons. Referring to international efforts to pursue legal action, she continued, “We also want Spain to take Israel before the International Court of Justice alongside South Africa. Valencia University declared that it will not comment on the demonstrations.
“The University of Valencia (UV) has made its stance clear regarding Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip, emphasizing the importance of respecting human rights and advocating for a lasting resolution to the situation in Palestine,” stated a post on X, the university’s social media platform.
Coral Latorre, the secretary-general of the student union, explained that the protesters aimed to stop the genocide in Gaza. “The demonstrations here in Spain align with those in the United States, France, and elsewhere. We stand in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters to halt the genocide they are enduring,” she expressed to Al Jazeera.
“We urge our government and universities to sever all ties with Israel until our objectives are met.”
In a statement, the Spanish Inter-University Network of Solidarity with Palestine expressed its desire for the academic community to reject the notion that the Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip, indiscriminate strikes, and ongoing invasion are justified by the Hamas attack, which they “unequivocally condemn.”
According to the report, Israeli settlers are “terrorizing” the people living in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and are “going unpunished” for their conduct, which are “actions that international law considers to be flagrant war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Thus far, the Israeli embassy in Spain has refrained from commenting on the student protest.
According to Jordi Mir Garcia, a historian at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the current protests in Spain are a response to recent violent university clashes in the United States. He suggests that Spain’s government’s advocacy for recognizing the Palestinian state sets a different political tone, potentially delaying such protests. Despite Spain’s past under General Francisco Franco, student movements have historically driven social change, notably during the transition to democracy and in movements like the 15-M protests against austerity policies, which ultimately led to the rise of the far-left party Podemos and altered the Spanish political landscape.